Privileged
by xPerfectImperfectionsx
Summary: In a society where money really can buy happiness, Clary Fray is the new scholarship student at Abbotsleigh Royal Grammar School, a prestigious boarding school where only the richest of rich attend. Jace Wayland is the millionaire, bad boy jock who has girls at the school hanging on his every word. When he takes an interest in Clary, his whole world is turned upside down. AU/AH
1. Welcome To Abbotsleigh

_**Enjoy xx**_

"Oh, it's so beautiful!"

Clary stood in front of the tall, iron gates of Abbotsleigh Royal Grammar School staring through the gaps and into the grounds. Past the cobblestone driveway with green mown lawns on each side was the main building, labeled 'Learning Centre and Chisolm Library' in large letters above the main entrance. It was at least four stories high and made of red brick.

"That's one word to describe it," Clary muttered in reply to Jocelyn's exclamation.

"I think 'terrifying' and 'intimidating' are a better fit," Simon Lewis, Clary's best friend offered as he hauled his friend's luggage out of her mother's trunk and dropped them next to Clary.

Clary laughed as she studied the students that were moving around the lawn and in and out of the building. They were all dressed in their red and navy striped blazers, girls in their matching navy skirts and boys in their grey trousers. Not a hair was out of place and they all walked with their heads up, an air of confidence surrounding each one of them. Clary felt so out of place in her ripped jeans and t-shirt, but she was meant to pick up her uniform from the office when she arrived.

"Everyone's so perfect," Clary noted in astonishment.

"Yeah, you're right," Simon agreed. "You're definitely not going to fit in here. Maybe you should just save yourself the misery and come home now. I'm pretty sure I still have our Halo game on pause."

His best friend grinned and jumped up on to her tiptoes to ruffle his hair. "Come on, you dork. Help me get my bags."

"Don't worry, I've got them," Jocelyn waved them away as she tried to pick up Clary's two suitcases and backpack.

Clary winced and took a deep breath. "Mom, maybe you should just stay here. Simon can help me get settled in."

Her mother frowned. "Don't worry darling, I'm happy to help."

"I know you are," Clary smiled sympathetically, "but I doubt any of the other students here have their parents following them around on their first day. It's embarrassing."

If Jocelyn was offended, she didn't let it show.

"Don't worry, Mrs Fray, I'll make sure Clary gets to her room safely," Simon assured her.

"That's very kind of you Simon, but I think I should be there to see Luke. After all, he's the one who got you the art scholarship, and I haven't seen him in so long," Jocelyn said.

Clary groaned. "Seriously Mom, don't make me look a bigger outsider than I already am," she gestured down to her ripped jeans and t-shirt. She seriously wished that she'd arranged to get her uniforms shipped to her instead of agreeing to pick them up when she arrived.

Jocelyn looked at her unsurely, eyeing her as if she would run away like a five year old if she lost sight of her. "Well, if you're sure… And if you promise to stay with Simon until you've unpacked and collected your uniform and schedule."

Relief flooded through Clary and she flung her arms around her mother's neck. "I am, I promise, thank you. I'll call you when tonight," she mumbled into her shoulder. As embarrassing as it would be for Jocelyn to come into the school with her, a part of Clary really wished she didn't have to let go. The art scholarship that Jocelyn had arranged with the headmaster and old friend, Luke Garroway, was an amazing opportunity for Clary. She would get to have a free education at the most prestigious private school in the country, but it didn't come without a metaphorical price; leaving her mom and Simon behind.

She could feel Jocelyn sobbing into her shoulder and let go, turning away and helping Simon pick up her own bags so that she wouldn't start crying too. They reached the door to the side of the gate, turning to wave to Jocelyn before entering.

Clary pulled the school map out of her pocket and scanned the sheet for the administration office location. "Okay, so it should be to the right…" Clary looked up from the map and found a smaller but just as grand building to the right of the learning center. "Found it," she announced.

Simon followed her line of vision and turned towards the office, heaving one of her suitcases with both hands. "Jesus Christ Clary, what did you put in this? Solid gold?"

Clary snorted as she carried her other suitcase in one hand with ease. _I'm probably the only one at this school who's _not _carrying solid gold in their luggage_, she thought. "You really need to work out, Si. It's sad that I'm half your size and stronger than you."

"You probably have the lighter bag," Simon grumbled.

The girl looked around at her peers as they got closer to the administration office and found at least three quarters of them studying her curiously. It wasn't exactly in a rude manner, but there was definitely question in their eyes. Clary didn't doubt they were judging her on the inside.

"Maybe I should enroll," Simon suggested. "There's definitely no shortage on smoking hot girls here," he said as his eyes scanned the groups of girls looking in their direction. "I bet they're all checking me out as we speak."

Clary grinned and rolled her eyes, pushing him through the door. "Just get inside."

The inside of the administrations office was like the foyer of a five star hotel. It had detailed designs in the pillars and the floor was white marble, with statues scattered in various places around the room and a water fountain in the middle.

Simon let out a low whistle. "This place probably costs more than my entire house does."

Clary nodded in agreement as she made her way to the front desk. A woman, probably only in her early twenties, sat typing on her laptop on the other side of the desk and looked up in surprise as she noticed Clary. "Can I help you with something?" she asked.

"I'm a new student, I was told to come here to meet Lu – I mean, Mr Garroway, and collect my uniform."

The older girl scrutinized Clary with a raised eyebrow, scanning her eyes up and down. "_You _are a student here?"

"Yes," Clary said slowly.

A sigh. "Name?"

"Clarissa Fray."

"Oh," the woman said in understanding. "You're the _scholarship _student. Got it."

Clary turned to Simon with a disgusted look on her face, but he lifted a shoulder as if to say, 'what did you expect?'

"Oh, here you are. Okay, so you're boarding at Alderwick House. That's across the other side of the campus with the rest of the girls' dorms. Here's your schedule…" she handed Clary a laminated piece of paper. "And here's your uniform."

Clary glanced at Simon and then inclined her head towards the large paper bag that her clothing had been put into.

Simon looked from her to the bag and then back to the suitcase he was carrying. "Oh no. No way. You can carry your own stupid uniform."

"I'm already carrying my suitcase and backpack. If you want me to come home from Thanksgiving, you'll carry it," Clary ordered, grinning at her victory as he grudgingly took the bag from the woman.

"Now, Headmaster Garroway should be here any – "

"Clary! Is that you?" came a loud voice from the stairs at the other end of the room. Luke Garroway came striding towards her, collecting her in a warm hug and lifting her up before realizing he probably shouldn't be touching one of his students and setting her back down.

"Hey Uncle Luke," she beamed up at the familiar man.

Luke cringed. "Don't call me that, it makes me feel old."

"Well, you _are _forty thr – "

"How about a tour?" Luke interrupted before Clary could finish. "Come on Simon, you can come too. Maybe it'll convince you to enroll as well."

Simon forced a smile. "Maybe," he said, shaking his head desperately at Clary when Luke turned his back.

"Behave," Clary mouthed to him before spinning on her heels and following Luke out onto the lawn again.

"So this is the quad," Luke spread his hands. "Only seniors are allowed on here, so make sure to stick to the paths around it. As you can probably tell, that block is the learning center and one of our three libraries. That's where all our classes and indoor clubs are held. Now, to our right are the boys' dormitories."

Clary looked behind the administration office to three different buildings, all varying in colour and look, but all obviously very grand and expensive. Dozens of boys were entering and exiting the buildings, greeting friends and playing football on the fields in front. Not one of them, Clary noticed, carried their own bags. She saw people who looked like drivers or butlers bringing in the students' luggage for them.

"If you follow the path behind the – " Luke was cut off as someone ran into his side trying to catch a ball. He was momently caught off balance but adjusted himself quickly, pulling his jacket down and glowering at the boy who had just pushed him. The boy with shaggy blonde hair and golden eyes. He was missing his blazer and his white collared shirt was unbuttoned a couple more than every other boy on the campus. His tie hung loosely around his neck. Somehow, he managed to pull of the look rather well.

"I'm so sorry Headmaster," the boy apologized. "I didn't see you there."

"Obviously not," Luke growled.

The boy looked from him to Clary and his mouth turned into a lopsided grin. "Hello. Who are you?" he said in way of a greeting.

"Um… I… I…" Clary stammered hopelessly.

"This is my very good friend's daughter, Clary Fray," Luke introduced. "Clary, this is Jace Wayland," he said in a gruffer tone.

"Are you new? You must be new," Jace guessed.

"And you must be blind, Mr Wayland, because the sign evidently says that only _seniors _are allowed on the quad. If my memory serves me right, you're only a junior," Luke said.

Jace nodded solemnly. "And I completely respect the rules, whole heartedly. But you see, I was just standing on the path minding my own business, and I saw the ball," he held up the one in his hand, "coming straight at you. What kind of person would I be if I just stood by at let it hit you?" After Luke didn't respond in any way except glaring, Jace turned back to Clary. "So, assuming you're new, I'm going to guess you don't know your way around this place. I'd be more than happy to give you a tour," he said, overly enthusiastic.

_Maybe you could give me a tour of something else… _Clary thought, eyeing his abs through his shirt.

"That won't be necessary, I'm showing Clary around myself," Luke said quickly.

"But I bet you're not going to show her the most popular places to have a quick cigarette," Jace pointed out. "Just joking," he added as he noticed the look of fury Luke was giving him.

Clary stifled a laugh, earning an amused glance from Jace.

"Keep off the grass, Wayland," Luke muttered as he pushed past him and indicated for Clary to follow, sighing as he heard Jace laugh behind him. "Pun not intended."

"See you around, new girl," the blonde boy called from behind Clary.

"I don't like him," Simon said bluntly.

"I do," Clary smiled.

"Of course you do."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Clary exclaimed.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." A sly smile crept over Simon's lips.

"Oh, shut up," Clary elbowed him in the side, sneaking a peak back at Jace, who was still staring at her.

∞§∞

After seeing the tennis courts, the equestrian grounds, swimming pool and other sporting grounds, they finally arrived at the girls' dormitories. Alderwick house was the most modern of the three, with sandstone on the corners, otherwise coloured white and dark brown. After saying goodbye to Luke, Simon and Clary made their way up to Clary's room. It was on the fourth floor, with a stairwell that led straight to the roof right next to Clary's door, as hers was on the end, and an elevator that went all the way to the ground floor which held a TV room, study area and gym.

"Are you sure this is a boarding school and not Buckingham Palace?" Simon said as he pushed the door to her room open. As he looked in, his mouth dropped. Clary pushed him aside to see what all the fuss was about.

"Oh. My. God," Clary gasped. Her room was listed as a single, but it could have fit five people if it weren't for the queen size bed, wall length mirror, another vanity mirror, study desk, wardrobe and window bed.

"Remind me again how much this school would cost if you weren't on a scholarship?"

Clary let out a breath. "More than my mom earns in two years." Even being one of the top lawyers in New York, Jocelyn wouldn't have been able to pay for even a semester here. To be a student at Abbotsleigh, you had to have either been born into money, or have connections in high places.

The girl dropped her suitcase at the door and skipped over to the bed, flopping down onto it and sighing in comfort, her hands wrapping around the silk sheets.

Suddenly, one of two doors on the left wall that Clary hadn't even noticed opened and a girl with jet-black, waist length hair and deep, dark eyes sauntered in. Clary heard Simon drop the suitcase he had been holding along with his jaw, and Clary couldn't blame him. The girl was the most beautiful girl she'd ever seen. She was tall, with a slender figure and a gracefulness and sophistication about her that made her seem like a princess or celebrity. She smiled widely, showing perfect white teeth, when she saw Clary sitting now upright on the bed and squealed as she ran over and gave the read haired girl a hug.

"Oh my god, hi!" she exclaimed. "I'm Isabelle Lightwood, your sort-of roommate, but you can call me Izzy. Or Iz. Whatever, really."

"Um, hey. I'm Clary. Wait, what do you mean sort-of roommate?"

"Oh, well through that door is my room," she pointed to the door she'd just entered through. "Every two rooms have one adjoining door. One freshman room, and one sophomore. It's sort of like a buddy system. And we also share a bathroom, unfortunate for you," Isabelle indicated to the second door in the wall. "Seeing as it's your first year, you can come to me anytime you want with absolutely anything. I'm really just here to be like a big sister," she smiled genuinely. "But don't come to me for math help," she added hastily. "I suck at math."

Clary laughed and opened her mouth to speak when there was a clearing of someone's throat from the doorway.

"I'm Simon," the boy waved awkwardly to Isabelle whose eyes widened in surprise.

"I totally didn't see you there. Hi, I'm Izzy," she strutted over to Simon and gave him a hug just as warm and welcoming as she had to Clary.

Clary thought that by the look on his face, he might actually be going into shock.

"I know," he responded, dumbfound.

"Oh shoot," Isabelle muttered, checking her watch. "I'm going to be late for the Blue and White Society meeting. I've gotta go."

"Blue and Red Society?" Clary asked.

"Yep," Isabelle nodded. "It's like a group of us that get together to talk about school spirit. You know, 'go team!' and all that jazz."

"On the first day back?"

"Abbotsleigh doesn't give you much time to settle in, I know. It's get here, unpack, and get to it. We're super lucky, though, because we get to be in Alderwick, which means our brother house is Archibald. And Archibald is where the hottest guys live," she winked. "I'm not going to be back before dinner, but I'll save you a seat in the dining hall, okay?"

Clary smiled appreciatively and nodded. "Thanks. See ya."

Isabelle waved a goodbye and exited, flicking her hair back over her shoulder. Once she was well out of sight, Simon turned to Clary with a goofy expression on his face.

"I think I'm in love," he smiled.

Clary chuckled and threw a shoe at him from her suitcase she was already starting to unpack. "Well, get out of it and help me over here."

"Can you get me her number?" Simon continued as he caught her shoe and threw it back to her.

"You're an idiot," Clary laughed. As much of an idiot as he was though, she knew she'd miss him more than anything when he walked out the school gates, so she took her time unpacking, just to have a few more minutes with her best friend. Because once he left, she'd be all alone.

_**That's all for tonight. I'll try and update tomorrow. Thanks for reading and please review with ideas/thoughts. It would really mean a lot to me :)**_

_**xPerfectImperfectionsx**_


	2. If You're Ever Feeling Lucky

As Clary walked into her first class of her first day at Abbotsleigh, the choice that faced her was the most difficult one she'd had in weeks. Where to sit. Because of her talent, she'd been moved up to the junior art class, which meant that the people filing in to the room with her had known each other for two whole years and knew exactly where to sit.

She would have fit in rather well in her perfectly fitting, hand made uniform that looked just as good on her as it did all the other girls at the school, if it weren't for her unsureness and tendency to stare at the ground while she walked. Up close, the girls were just as beautiful as they had been from far away when Clary had observed them at her first time walking to the administration office. Their skin was flawless, their noses never out of shape, their eyebrows perfectly plucked, their hair glossy. She probably would have noticed the perfection of the students at this school earlier at dinner last night if she hadn't lost her appetite from all the nerves and homesickness and stayed in her room to settle in instead.

Finally, once most people were seated at desks that were shaped in a U formation, there were a group of three seats on the side closest to her that were empty. She slid onto an art stool quickly and started to unpack her art book and pencil case.

"Ahem," a boy's voice came from behind her and she spun around only to find herself staring at the same boy she'd met yesterday on the quad. "Who do you think you are?"

"Um, I'm Clary. Clary Fray. I think I saw you yesterday when you ran into the headmaster," Clary said, her good mood dropping when she realized that he didn't remember her.

"Yes, I know that," he waved a hand in the air. "I mean, who do you think you are to be sitting there? That's my seat. And as a matter of fact, are you even sure you're supposed to be in this class? The freshman level is two floors down, but the primary school is about ten miles from here, which is where you look like you should be," he raised an eyebrow in question.

"I got moved up a couple of years for this class," Clary shrugged and started to pack her utensils back up to move seats. Two junior girls had moved in to the seats next to her and were studying her closely so she got ready to moved to the spare seat on the other side of the classroom, opposite to where she was now.

"Ah, you must be pretty good then. Don't worry, as a congratulations I'll let you keep my seat. But this is the first and last time, understand?" He raised a finger in warning.

Clary nodded. "Got it."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you get to repay me in one way or another," he smirked before sauntering off to the seat opposite her on the other side of the room, luckily for Clary or he would have seen the heat rise up to her cheeks.

For the rest of the lesson, which was disappointingly theory work, Clary couldn't help but notice out of the corner of her eye the looks Jace kept giving her. His eyes moved so fast, that when Clary turned her attention from the teacher to look at him, he was already looking somewhere else. Nearer the end of the lesson, she turned her head quickly to Jace and caught his eyes still on her. She smiled in triumph at him and he grinned back, mouthing 'you got me' and winking. That was the last time he looked at her for the rest of the class.

As the bell rang, Jace was already out of his seat and headed towards the door when the two girls sitting on either side of her spun out of their chairs to form a wall in front of Clary. One had olive skin and shiny, straight black hair. The other was taller with legs that went on for miles. She had tanned skin, blue eyes and blonde hair. They were both beautiful.

"Hey," The darker skinned girl smiled a smile of dazzling white teeth at Clary.

"Hi?" Clary said, and it came out as a question. Why were these girls talking to her? Had she smudged pencil on her face or something?

"I'm Aline Penhallow. My daddy owns an airline. This is Kaelie Whitewillow. Her parents own like, half of Hawaii and almost all of Fiji, you've probably heard of them," the girl gestured to the blonde beside her.

"Yeah, the name rings a bell," Clary lied. "I'm Clary Fray."

"Oh!" Kaelie's face lit up. "Like, of the Belle Cairns Frays'? The ones that own that vineyard company? I love that place! Your house is like, completely amazing! Ever since I saw it on your website, I've been begging Daddy to install a wall fountain just like yours in my bedroom, but he's worried I'll forget to turn the tap off when I'm filling it up and flood my whole room. It's happened before."

Clary laughed quietly. "Um, no actually. My mom's a lawyer in New York." That would have sounded impressive at any other school, but not here. Here, being a lawyer was like working at Wal-Mart.

Something clicked in Aline's mind and her eyes widened. "Oh my god, you're the new scholarship girl," she said it with disgust and looked at Kaelie, whose expression was one of horror.

"What's wrong, Aline? You scared that some of her intelligence and hard work will rub off on you?" a voice said from behind the two girls.

Clary hadn't even known that Jace was still in the otherwise empty room.

Aline took one look at him and her face softened into one of admiration, before understanding the insult and turning to her sidekick. "Kae, I just remembered that I left my Chanel wallet in my room and it has my lip gloss in it, come with?"

Kaelie nodded furiously and they both scurried out of the room in a hurry.

Clary scoffed and pulled her bag over her shoulder. "You'd think I just told them I was a mass murderer just released from jail," she said as she walked with Jace out of the classroom.

"To these girls, they're pretty much the same thing. People here believe that if you don't have money of your own, you must be out to steal all of theirs," Jace explained.

"And you don't?"

"I like to get to know someone before jumping to assumptions," he grinned as Clary blushed. "But just incase you are, don't bother looking in my room. I keep all my money on a credit card, which is in my wallet, which is in my pocket," he tapped his hand on the side of his trousers. "So unless you want to put your hands in my pants, you won't be getting lucky."

Clary made an incoherent sound, which made Jace think twice about what he'd just said.

"I swear I did not mean for that pun, although I wish I had," he smiled at himself proudly.

"Okay, well I'm going to go before you say anything else wildly inappropriate," Clary laughed as she headed towards the stairs and Jace headed into his next class.

He nodded and waved a goodbye. "Hey," he called as Clary had already taken another five steps. She turned to see him grinning devilishly. "The offer still stands, if you ever feel like getting lucky."

Clary screeched and spun on her heels, almost tripping and falling face first onto the next step as she felt her face go fifty shades of red.

_**Just a little chapter tonight, guys, sorry. I'm away until Sunday so there won't be any more updates except for maybe another little chapter, but please review! Your reviews keep me going because otherwise I have no idea if I should even continue or if you all think it's completely horrible. Seriously, it takes a few seconds and makes me feel 1000 times better. If you review from your account and not as a guest, I always make an effort to check your stories and review them too!**_

_**Thanks :) **_

_**xPerfectImperfectionsx**_


	3. Natural Habitat

_**A/N at bottom… **_

_**Enjoy**_

"Izzy! Hurry up before all the hot water runs out and I have to kick your ass!" Clary banged on the bathroom door in the early hours of the morning, groaning. Her hair was up at all angles and her face was marked with lines where her face had pressed into the seam of her pillow.

"Relax, we have ages before school," Isabelle called from the other room over the sound of the shower running.

"If you ages you mean twenty minutes then yes, we do," Clary replied as she headed towards her door to use the spare public bathrooms at the end of the floor. As she opened the door, she jumped back when she saw a figure standing in front of her, their hand raised, ready to knock.

Clary put her hand on her hip and raised her eyebrows. "You aren't stalking me now, are you Wayland?"

A smirk spread over the boy's face as he took in her just-woken-up appearance in a glance. "What an outrageous assumption, what makes you think I'd want to be anywhere near a scholarship student? I might catch your disease," he teased.

"Funny," Clary glared at him from under her long lashes. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"What, so you could have applied some makeup and brushed your hair? I'd much rather observe you in your natural habitat," he shot back. "And how could I have known you'd be in Izzy's room?"

Clary frowned. "Izzy as in Isabelle? As in Isabelle Lightwood?" A dark cloud made her body feel heavy as realization hit her. He was here to see Isabelle. They were probably hooking up, or at least making out a few times a week, Clary guessed. And suddenly she felt so stupid for allowing herself to feel the excited butterflies in her stomach and allowing her heart to skip a beat when she saw him standing in front of her.

"The one and only," Jace nodded.

"Um, this isn't her room. This is my room," Clary mumbled, absentmindedly combing her fingers through her hair. "Hers is next door. But she's in the shower, which is where I should be going, so if you'll excuse me…" she tried to push her way past him but he stayed blocking the door way, his arms holding onto the frame on each side.

"So you're the freshman buddy my sister's been talking all about. I'm sorry, it just didn't click when she was talking about how nice and cool and friendly you were."

"Wait, back up. You're _sister?_" Clary gave him an incredulous look.

"Well she's not my girlfriend."

"But you two look nothing alike."

"That would make sense seeing as we're not actually related. The Lightwoods' adopted me when I was ten," he admitted, staring at his feet.

"Oh, I… I'm… s - ," she cut herself off from her apology, thinking that Jace wasn't someone who liked to be pitied. "I'm so late. Or I mean, I'm going to be if I don't get to the showers."

She managed to push her way past Jace for a moment before his hand came to rest on her shoulder, sending small electro currents through her arm. "So you're coming to our house in the Hamptons for the long weekend?"

"What?" Clary asked.

"Isabelle said she was going to ask you, I guess she hasn't gotten around to it," Jace frowned.

"Ask me what?"

"She was going to invite you to our holiday house for the long weekend next week."

Clary sighed. "I can't even think about the weekend right now. So far I've been here for one day and have already accumulated at least seven hours of homework. And I was supposed to go see my mom that weekend."

"I'm sure your mom will understand if you want to spend some time getting to know your new friends. She'd be happy that you were fitting in."

"I wouldn't say 'fitting in' exactly."

A sudden flash of anger passed through Jace's eyes but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. It was almost… possessive. "Aline and Kaelie haven't said anything else to you, have they?"

Clary shook her head quickly. "No. It's just, this school's not the most welcoming place I've ever been."

"The people here aren't that bad once you get to know them."

"Easy for you to say. You holiday in the Hamptons and probably travel by helicopter. You're one of them."

"Private jet, actually," Jace corrected.

"Oh, that makes it so much better," Clary snickered.

"Look, just tell your mom you'll go visit her the weekend after. I promise my family isn't as stuck up as the parents of the other students. I want – I mean, Izzy wants you to come. She really likes you."

"Why isn't she inviting her sophomore friends? I'm sure they'd be a lot more fun."

Jace let a sly smile creep across his lips. "I don't know, I think you could be pretty fun if you tried."

"You didn't answer my question," Clary said, completely ignoring the suggestion behind his words.

The boy's face turned from amused to serious in a second. "Isabelle doesn't really… get along… with the girls in her year."

"What? Why not?"

"Ask her," he said hastily.

"Oookay, I will," Clary replied carefully, a look of suspicion written across her features.

"I've gotta go. As unopposed as I am to being late, even I have to make a good first impression to my new teachers. Tell Izzy I stopped by," he said, spinning on his heels and rushing to the elevator.

As Clary watched him walk away, there was a part of her that longed to follow him.

"By the way," he called back over his shoulder. "I'm loving the drool marks on your chin."

_**I'm so sorry the past two chapters have been so short, but I'm on holidays at the moment and I was in a rush to finish this just because I didn't want you guys waiting. Again, please review. It means the world to me reading your praise, no matter how short it is! I promise the next chapters will be more filled and longer.**_

_**Xx**_

_**xPerfectImperfectionsx**_


	4. The Hamptons Await

**A/N at bottom.**

**Enjoy!**

Clary had seen the Hamptons in episodes of Gossip Girl, but a TV screen did not do the place justice. As the Lightwoods' private jet soared through the air, Clary pressed her face up against the window and took in the details with her eyes. The water was a perfect light blue with white sand, with people that Clary could only just make out lying on it. Multi-million dollar houses took up the vicinity with swimming pools and tennis courts.

"This is just the dull part of the area," Isabelle leaned over to Clary as she filed her nails, disinterested in their surroundings. "Wait til you see where we're going to be staying."

"If it's anywhere near this amazing, I'm probably going to feint when we land," Clary gushed.

Jace chuckled from the seat facing her where he sat sprawled, reading a tattered copy of a Charles Dickens book and sipping on a martini.

"Aren't you only sixteen?" Clary asked as she studied the drink in his hand.

"Seventeen," he corrected, "and in the Hamptons, seventeen is the new twenty five."

"Except not as many wrinkles and hotter," Isabelle added.

"Iz, we need to take this child out. She needs a proper party education," Jace said to his sister.

"Trust me, I've got that sorted," the girl smirked and winked, exchanging a devilish look with him.

"I don't know if I should be excited or scared," Clary raised an eyebrow and took a gulp of orange juice.

"I'd be terrified," the boy sitting next to Jace, Sebastian Verlac, grinned at her. He was Jace's plus one and also a junior. A really hot junior.

"No time for feelings," Isabelle stood up from her seat and clapped her hands together. "We're here!"

All of a sudden, Clary felt the quick descent of the plan as it connected with a landing strip that was placed at the back of what looked to be a mansion that could house twenty families. Even from the back, it was more beautiful than any house she had ever seen in her life. As they exited the plane, leaving their luggage to be retrieved by the butler, a two-level infinity pool came into view.

Clary was cut out of her trance when a ringing sounded from Jace's blazer pocket.

"I'll catch up with you girls in a moment," he signaled to Isabelle, Clary and Sebastian before pulling his phone up to his ear. "I thought we agreed no calls through the long weekend, Maia…" his voice faded as they got further away.

"I swear to God if he calls me a girl one more time…" Sebastian grumbled.

"You'll what? Bitch slap him?" Isabelle said.

"No, I'll do something manly, like… punch him."

Isabelle scoffed. "I'd like to see you try, Verlac."

Clary had missed the whole four sentences that had been exchanged in the past twenty seconds. She was off in her own little cloud of thought. "Who's Maia?" she interrupted, making sure she sounded cool and not-too-interested.

"Maia Roberts, she's a sophomore like me and also one of Jace's many flings. Or, _was_. Apparently she's getting to needy and clingy for my brother's liking," the dark haired girl explained, rolling her eyes as the turned to face the front of the house.

Clary's throat was suddenly dry and scratchy. _One of Jace's many flings_. She kicked herself inwardly for even caring. She knew that the boy wasn't at all interested, that joking with her was just harmless fun, but as much as she told herself that, she couldn't keep her mind off him. He wasn't like the other boys that she'd spent the past week with in classes. Yes, he was cocky and confident and he acted like the earth revolved around him, but at the same time he didn't talk about money and his parents' jobs the way the other guys did. He was vain and modest at the same time. _God Clary, why don't you try making sense for once?_

As the oversized French doors flew open to reveal the inside of the mansion, Jace joined the group of three again, but Clary was so blown away by the house that she barely noticed. Two spiral staircases swirled left and right at the back of the foyer, with statues and desks and paints all around. It was simple but sophisticated.

"Are your parents here?" Clary looked around for any signs of cars in the driveway and then figured that if they were here they probably had arrived by private jet too.

"Not yet, they arrive tonight," Isabelle replied as she stepped inside the door dramatically and flung her arms out. "Hello, my beautiful home!" She then turned to Clary and grinned. "Now for the exciting part, choosing our rooms. Jace, I'm assuming you want to be in the left wing as far away from us as possible, as usual?"

"Actually, I was thinking that maybe I could stay in the right wing with you and Clary, if that's okay with Sebastian."

The other boy shrugged.

"Why?" Isabelle scrunched up her nose in confusion. "You hate sleeping within one hundred meters of me. You say I snore. Which I don't, by the way," she added, directing it towards Sebastian, who Clary suspected she had a little crush on from the lovey eyes she'd been sending him all morning.

"Is it so unbelievable that I want to be close to my sister?" Jace feigned a hurt expression and put two hands over his heart.

The other three all responded at once. "Yes."

∞§∞

The four of them had spent the rest of the day unpacking and lounging around by the pool, sipping pina coladas and talking about anything and everything. More than half the time, Clary would just sit back and laugh as the other three talked. It was hard to join in when she couldn't relate to what they said about holidaying in Tahiti and complaining about their drivers. When it had come time for dinner, they had sat at in the grand, formal dining room as the cooks had sent in tray after tray of dinners and desserts. At some stage, Robert and Maryse Lightwood had joined. They'd been friendlier and more down to earth than Clary had expected, asking her questions about her classes and art instead of digging in about her past. The girl assumed that Isabelle had mentioned the whole scholarship situation to them sometime in the past week. It was a happy change to listening to the amazing world travels that the other teenagers had had and how much money was deposited into their bank accounts each birthday. If she hadn't been around the other students enough to know that they weren't all this kind, she may enjoy boarding at Abbotsleigh a lot more. Now, she walked up the spiral staircase that led to her bedroom. Isabelle was showering and Jace was god knows where, probably on the phone to another one of his 'flings'.

Clary stood at the top of the stairs where the hallway split into three and sighed. "Great, I can't even find my own way back to my bedroom."

Footsteps jumped up the stairs behind her and she turned to see Sebastian running towards her.

"Hey Clary," he greeted, coming to stop in front of her.

"Hi," she smiled back, feeling relieved as he started to lead the way back to their rooms.

As the walked, they talked. It was small-minded conversation and Clary was only half paying attention. Finally Clary recognized the dark brown oak door with carvings that connected to her own bedroom and stopped in front of it. Luckily the door was closed, or Sebastian would have been able to see the lacy underwear and other clothes that were sprawled all across her bed. She turned to him and gave a quick smile, reaching to open the door behind her before his hands came to rest on the walls on both sides of her head.

"You know, I saw you on the first day." His face was only a few inches away from hers and his eyes locked on her, making it impossible for her to look away.

"Really?" she whispered, her voice trembling. She could see exactly where this was going and she saw no way of getting out.

"I've been watching you all week, and when Jace said that you were coming to the Hamptons, I couldn't believe my luck. Being with you for an entire weekend… alone…" he pulled back a strand of her red hair and twirled it around his finger, never averting his eyes.

Clary closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. Their bodies were so close that if she moved at all they would collide. "But we aren't really alone, are we?" she said. "I mean, Isabelle's in the shower."

"Downstairs in the other side of the building," he said into her ear as his mouth came down to place a kiss on her neck.

Clary's skin burned where he touched her. "But Jace… Jace is…"

"I took care of that," he pulled back to give her a sly grin. "He's going to be busy with the young maid for at least another twenty minutes, which is plenty of time."

"Sebastian, no," she ignored the sick feeling in her stomach of the mention of Jace with another girl and pushed a hand onto the dark haired boy's chest. "I don't want to."

"Come on, Clary. You don't need to lie. No one's around," he muttered.

And suddenly, their lips crashed together and Sebastian's hand was around the girl's back, pushing her stomach towards him so that every part of their body that could be touching was. With his other hand, he secured a firm grip on the back of her head to push her mouth onto his, sliding his tongue in and tracing the back of her spine roughly.

"Sebastian," she mumbled against his lips as loud as she could. "Sebastian, stop."

"No."

He pushed his hand up her top, lifting it up to her chest, touching her bare stomach, her bra. It sent goose bumps all over her skin. As his fingers slid around to her bra clasp on her back, all the pressure and hold that Sebastian had had on Clary disappeared. He wasn't touching her anymore. He wasn't anywhere near her. Before she could even process what was going on in front of her, she heard the sound of a fist connecting with a nose, a crunching sound, and then Clary's eyes cleared enough that she could see what was happening. Jace stood in front of her with his back facing her, towering over Sebastian who lay crumpled on the floor on his side, he hands now clutching his nose as blood oozed from it.

"What the hell, man?" he exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Don't you dare 'what the hell, man?' me. You disgust me," Jace sneered as he lifted his foot back and sent it forward to connect with Sebastian's stomach.

"Jace, stop!" Clary cried, jumping forward and wrapping her tiny hands around his arm. He pushed her touch away. She could see the burning fury in his eyes.

"Like you don't want to tap that too," Sebastian said through coughs. "She's fucking hot, dude."

Jace bent down to the boys level, crouching on his knees, and looked him square in the eye. "If you ever lay another hand on her, I swear to God I'll cut them off myself," he hissed in a deadly tone that made Clary's veins run cold. "Do… you… understand?"

Sebastian nodded as his eyes widened in fear.

"Are you sure you don't need me to prove how serious I am?"

"No! No, I get it, okay? You can have her."

With that, Jace's foot landed on Sebastian's hand and another shattering sound rung in Clary's ears. "I'm sorry?"

After his suffering cries had quietened down to sobs, Sebastian spoke. "I promise I'll never go near her again."

"That's what I thought."

And with that, Jace straightened himself back up, turning to Clary. "Are you okay?"

Clary nodded, even though she had tears streaming down her face and her whole body was trembling. "Please just get me out of here. I can't look at him."

"Come on, come on," he whispered in a soothing voice, placing a hand on the small of her back. It wasn't like when Sebastian had done it, though. It was light and gentle and comforting.

She didn't argue as the walked past her bedroom door and halfway down the hallway before entering another bedroom. It was clean and white and not a thing was out of place or crooked. If not for the suitcase at the end of the king sized bed, you wouldn't know anyone was staying in it. Jace led her over to the bed and helped her as she lifted herself up onto it without question, pushing her body under the blankets and resting her head back onto the pillow.

"I'll be on the chair," Jace gestured to the bedside rocking chair with a blanket draped over it. "I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

"Don't be ridiculous. It's your bedroom," Clary said, patting the mattress behind her. "You can sleep in here."

"Are you sure?" Even though he was supposed to sound cautious and careful, there was a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable. The chair's perfectly fine."

Clary sighed. "Jace, I'm tired and I just want to go to sleep. Don't make me argue with you." _Who knew Jace had a gentlemanly side? _She thought happily.

Jace nodded stiffly and walked to the other side of the bed where he lay down, pulling the covers over him too and resting his head back. He lay on the very far side, as far away from Clary as possible, almost falling off. The girl sighed once again and ever so slowly, crawled over towards him so that her body was on its side and touching his arm. She lifted an arm up and rested it over his torso, her fingers curling around his other shoulder.

"Goodnight, Jace," she whispered.

"Goodnight, Clary," he murmured into her hair as his body became less rigid, enough so that he pulled his arm around Clary's tiny body and rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Thank you. For being there."

He didn't reply, but when it seemed that he thought Clary was asleep due to her heavy, steady breathing and stillness, he kissed the top of her forehead before shutting his eyes and falling into a deep slumber.

**Ta da! So it's 1am in Australia and I stayed up to write this just for you guys, so pretty please review and let's try to get to 40 before the next chapter? Love you all :)**

**Xx**

**xPerfectImperfectionsx**


	5. It Meant Nothing

The banging was what woke Clary up.

She lay on her side facing the end of the bed, her hands clutching Jace's arms that were holding her comfortingly, her legs intertwined with his. His warm breath blew onto her neck and she had to force herself to open her eyes from the little heaven she had been in since the night before.

There was more banging, and then a voice. "Jace Wayland, get your ass out of bed this moment or I'm coming in!" Isabelle screamed demandingly.

Clary felt a gust of wind on her neck as Jace let out a sigh and pulled his body away from hers. "Hold on, Iz," he called as he moved off the bed and pulled on a sweater, gathering Clary's shoes and stuffing them under the bed as he ushered her into his en suit. "Don't say a thing," he warned her in a quiet tone.

Clary stood on the cool tiled flaw in shock and confusing, even after Jace had closed the bathroom door and she heard his footsteps moving away from her. What the hell had happened last night? She knew they hadn't done anything apart from sleep and cuddle, but she could still feel the pressure of his lips on her forehead. She could also remember the feeling of Sebastian's hands on her, but she couldn't think about that now. Not at eight o'clock in the morning. Not before a coffee.

She pushed her face against the crack in the door as she heard Isabelle enter Jace's bedroom.

"What the hell did you do?" Isabelle screeched as she pushed Jace backwards, although he didn't even lose his balance.

"You're going to have to be a bit more specific, Iz, I do a lot of stuff," Jace said in an amused tone.

Isabelle scoffed. "Yeah, you've got that right. But I'm not here to tell you off for the number of women you've slept with, Jace. I'm talking about Sebastian."

Even through the small sliver of vision that Clary had, she could practically sense Jace stiffen and tense. "What about him?"

"I just saw him getting on our plane back to his parents' holiday house in France for the weekend. He gave me some half-assed, completely bullshit excuse about wanting to spend time with his family. But you know Sebastian, and you know that can't be the truth."

"So you just automatically assume I did something to set him off running? Or flying, technically."

"Considering that he had cuts and bruises all over his face and couldn't move one of his arms… Yeah, I do in fact. It's not like Dad to go around bashing up our guests. You, on the other hand… I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised," Isabelle snapped, folding her arms over her chest.

"Thanks for having so much faith in me. It's really heart warming," Jace retorted sarcastically. "Listen, I have no idea what happened to Sebastian. I saw him go out late last night; he probably went to meet his Hamptons dealer and ran into some trouble. You know how he is with that sort of crap." He seemed so relax and at ease that Clary almost believed him herself.

Isabelle raised an eyebrow at her brother. "You don't seem very concerned, especially seeing as he is _your _guest and _your _friend."

Jace shrugged. "It's happened so many times before that I know he'll be fine. I'll give him a call after my shower just to check on him though, if that makes you any happier."

"Mhmmm," the dark haired girl pursed her lips and glared at Jace in disbelief, looking unimpressed, before her face lit up as her mind thought of something else. "Oh! You haven't seen Clary, have you? She's not in her room and none of the staff have seen her."

"Uh, yeah. I saw her leave about a half hour ago; it looked like she was going for a run. She'll probably be back soon," Jace lied smoothly.

"Okay, well, I'll see you at breakfast. And don't forget about the Bershire's Gala this afternoon," Isabelle called over her shoulder as she flounced out, slamming the door behind her.

For a few moments, Clary continued to watch Jace as he stood staring at the door, hands in his pockets. When he moved and she lost vision of him, she tried to turn her head more but was suddenly knocked back with force as the door opened, slamming into her forehead and causing her to fall onto her butt.

"Ow! Jesus!" Clary exclaimed as she clutched a hand to just above her eyebrow.

"Were you spying on me?" Jace raised an eyebrow as he stood towering above her from her position on the bathroom floor.

Clary flushed a deep pink. "No. I just… I, uh…"

"Well I guess there's no point in me replaying that whole conversation seeing as you've already heard it." A small smile was forcing itself across the boy's lips. He held out a hand, helping Clary up. After she'd gotten to her feet, for a few moments after Jace held onto her hand before realizing that he should probably let go. He let out an awkward cough. "Don't worry about Sebastian. He won't tell anyone anything. I made sure of that."

"I'm not worried," Clary lied. Not as smoothly as Jace, though.

"I can tell when you're lying, Clary," Jace grinned. He lifted up a hand and rested his thumb gently on her bottom lip. "You do this cute little lip bite. As a matter of fact, I think you should lie more. It's adorable," he paused for a moment. "Do you think I'm attractive?"

"No," Clary said automatically.

The boy's grin grew even wider as he pulled her lip out from under her teeth. "You should really work on that. Otherwise you'll never be able to play poker. It's a complete giveaway."

Clary felt herself groan inwardly as his hand came away from her face. Her fingers shook as she cleared her throat. "Um, Jace. About last night…"

"Which part?"

"When we were in bed… And I…"

Something flashed in Jace's eyes before all the previous emotions that he had been showing in them – adoration, happiness, amusement – was gone. "Oh God, please tell me you're not one of those girls who automatically thinks we're dating just because we shared a bed and spooned." Clary couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something about his voice that was almost robotical. Devoid of all earlier feelings. It was like he was purposely shutting her out. "You were upset and I comforted you. That's all there is to it."

It was like he'd just slapped her hard across the face. She hoped that her features didn't show what was happening to her on the inside. It was like he was pulling, pulling, pulling her in and the snapping the rope and letting her fall backwards. She stumbled for words. "No. I mean yeah, of course. Totally," she stammered, pushing past him and making a direct exit through his bedroom door.

_**I'm sorry this is so short, I just felt so bad that I hadn't updated in like a week so I thought I'd write a little something. I'll post more tomorrow night.**_


	6. The Gala

The Bershires' Annual Hamptons Gala had been the talk of the area for the past three months, not that Clary had heard any of it, but apparently it was a beyond enormous deal that she was going, according to Isabelle. She babbled on and on about how it was the event of all events, or at least tried as hard as she could, with the pins in her mouth as she knelt at Clary's feet to fix the hem of the smaller girl's dress. It was designer, and the number on the tag made her head hurt. How someone could spend so much on a piece of fabric, she would never understand. But she had to admit… it was a pretty impressive piece of fabric. The dress was a deep yet vibrant red that fell down to her ankles, molded to her chest perfectly and then gathering below the bust and falling loosely down the rest of her figure. A gold pattern had been attached to the very top and decorated the whole of the chest area.

"Uhvryuns ginta dee winay sheeyoo," Isabelle mumbled as a pin fell from her mouth. Clary, who had become an expert at translating Izzy's jumbled speech from the past two hours experience, understood that as 'Everyone is going to die when they see you.'

"If they even remember who I am," Clary said as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

Isabelle muttered something under her breath that sounded like 'peshumuft', but probably meant 'pessimist'.

Clary chuckled and twirled once around, her hands holding the sides of the dress with gentle hands. For the first time in her life, she understood what Isabelle and all the other girls at Abbotsleigh probably felt every weekend. She felt graceful and light and expensive and royal. "I could definitely get used to having Chanel dresses and styling rooms and Hamptons holiday houses."

"Trust me, it's not all it looks to be," Isabelle rolled her eyes.

_Easy for you to say, _Clary thought surprisingly bitterly. _You've never lived without it._

As if reading her thoughts, the dark haired girl looked up with apologetic eyes. "I know I sound like a spoiled brat who isn't grateful for anything, and Jace has made me aware that I've been sounding like that all weekend, but I promise I don't mean to, Clary. I know I sound ungrateful, and truth be told I probably am. I should be happy to have money and be in elite social circles and already have a guaranteed spot in an Ivy League school, but I'm not. Clary, you might wish to have a life like this now… but after a year of living with my parents who don't even realize or really care if I'm in the same house as them and having a better relationship with your driver than your little brother, you'd be wishing to go back to your New York life."

As lovely as Maryse and Robert had been the night before at dinner, Clary had sensed the disinterest and boredom oozing from them when Isabelle had tried to discuss her awards at school and her hobbies. "You have a little brother?" She asked, partly just to change the subject.

Izzy's smile was the most genuine the other girl had ever seen it. "Yeah. Max. He's nine. He's a total goofball, and completely obsessed with comics and anime. And then there's Alec, too. He's almost twenty."

"How come they aren't here this weekend?"

"Max is at our home with the staff to take care of him. Mom and Dad decided that this weekend would be too 'mature and boring' for a boy of his age," she scoffed. "And it's Alec's first year Anne Arundel, so he decided to stay to get settled in."

"Anne Arundel?" Clary said in obvious surprise. "As in, the community college?"

Isabelle laughed. "When he told our parents, the almost disowned him. There had been this whole plan to send him to Yale because of their amazing English department, but then he met this guy, Magnus. He completely changed Alec. Showed him there was a world outside of money and scandals. He convinced my brother to go to his local community college with him, for a try at a somewhat normal and middle class life."

"That's amazing," Clary said in awe.

"That's definitely not the word Dad used when he kicked my brother out because he was gay," Isabelle replied sourly, stabbing the last of the pins into the pincushion violently.

The younger girl panicked at the sudden anger that had burst out of her friend and searched for a subject change. "So, this Gala. What's the whole deal with it?"

Izzy sighed and set the pincushion aside. "It's a traditional rich people society event. Champagne, dancing, more champagne, some sucking up to other rich people, most likely some more dancing. Oh, and my favourite part… the competition between the teenagers of 'Who Can Gather The Best Date?'" Isabelle exclaimed with fake excitement.

"Dates? You didn't say anything about dates," Clary's eyes widened.

Iz laughed. "Take a deep breath, girl. I've already arranged for Mom's friend's son, Jordan Kyle, to be your date. I'm still deciding between Meliorn and some French guy whose name has slipped my mind at this particular moment in time. He's cute though, I remember that much."

"How did you get this mysterious Jordan Kyle to agree to go with me?"

The dark haired girl dropped onto a seat beside the wardrobe and shot Clary a mischievous smile. "Jordan's always has an interest in fresh meat."

Clary let out a nervous laugh, twitching her fingers as she tried to sound casual. "What about Jace? Is he going?"

"Unfortunately. I'm not responsible for my brother's date, but I assume he's taking one of the unsuspecting, innocent Hamptons' vacationers he's met throughout the past couple of years after being declared the most wanted bachelor within a one hundred mile radius."

"Iz, you're not still angry at him about the whole Sebastian thing, are you? I mean, you don't even know he did anything. He says he didn't."

"How did you know about that? Actually, never mind. Word travels around here quicker than Abbotsleigh, and that's really saying something. Listen Clary; all I know is that I really liked Sebastian. He was my number one choice for the Gala! I wouldn't officially call it a crush, but it was definitely in development of becoming one. And then Jace had to go and be a cocky bastard like usual for some reason or another and beat the living shit out of the only guy I was interested in."

A chill made its way up Clary's spine. "Trust me, Izzy. You don't want to have anything to do with Sebastian. Ever."

∞§∞

Isabelle had been right about everything she had said about the Gala. There was champagne and dancing and sucking up to rich people and most noticeable, the ogling of Jace Wayland. Everywhere she turned, she saw teenage girls mouths drop open at the sight of the golden haired boy in a suit and tie. Clary didn't let herself think about how amazing he looked in the suit, because if she did she probably would have found herself eye-raping him with the rest of the girls at the party.

Jordan Kyle was perfectly nice, she thought. He'd told her she looked beautiful when he'd picked her and Isabelle up with Meliorn in the shared limousine and held his arm out for her to wrap hers around as the entered. He'd fetched her nonalcoholic beverages and introduced her to people whose names she had already forgotten. But in all honesty, she wasn't interested in him and she had a feeling that the feeling was mutual.

Luckily enough, it seemed that Aline and Kaelie had decided to spend their weekend tanning somewhere else far, far away from the Hamptons. Isabelle had been pointing out students from Abbotsleigh since they'd arrived before she'd gone off to dance with Meliorn, but Clary hadn't recognized anyone and none of them made an effort to do so much as smile at her. In fact, they'd all shot her bewildered looks, obviously wondering how she had been invited to such a high-class event.

"The song's over. Do you want another drink?" Jordan asked politely as he took his hands off her waist and stepped away.

Clary opened her mouth to reply when she was cut off by a voice on the speakers.

"And now, if you would all find your dates for the official waltz of this afternoon."

The girl looked at Jordan with wide eyes.

A throat was cleared behind her. "Do you mind if I cut in for this one?"

Clary spun around to see Jace staring at her with those smoldering amber eyes. _Don't think about the suit; just don't think about the suit_. So instead of thinking about the suit, she focused on his face. His cheekbones and lips and eyelashes…

"Uh, yeah, that's not a problem. I'll go get those drinks," Jordan touched Clary lightly on the arm.

As the violins started, Jace took a step towards Clary and put one hand to her waist. Electric currents pulsed from her hip to every other inch of her body as they made contact.

"I have no idea how to waltz," she admitted sheepishly.

"Well lucky for you, I'm an amazing teacher. And anyways, it's a modern sort of waltz. Just put your hand in mine, and…" They started to move. All of a sudden, it was like Clary was floating. She knew what step he would take next and what direction to move. They moved slowly but fluidly. Perfectly. And the whole time, they never broke eye contact.

"Why are you here?" She asked finally, having found the rhythm of the song.

"I was invited."

"I mean _right here_. As in dancing with me in this very spot."

"You seemed bored and my date was getting on my nerves. I thought it was a win-win situation."

"And how do you know this isn't boring me?"

Jace lent his head down to the side of hers and put his lips next to her ear. "You're speeding pulse and heavy breathing tell me otherwise."

Clary moved her head backwards and let out an exasperated laugh. "So this is how it's going to be?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"This. This friendship. If you can even call it that. One night you tell me that I mean nothing to you and the next it's back to flirting and flashing that smirk of yours?" She took a step back and let her hands drop to her sides.

"I never said you mean nothing to me. I said that one night of spooning does not mean we're in a relationship. And as far as I was aware, that's all there was to it; flirting. I'm sorry if you thought something else, Clary, but…"

"Oh, so what?" Clary interrupted, fuming. "You just expect me to go around believing that you beat up all of your flirting candidates' love interests and then taking them back to your bedroom, kissing them on the forehead and staying with them until the morning?"

"Like I said," Jace said in a quiet, deadly calm voice. "You were upset and I was there to comfort you. That's all there was to it."

"Then you won't care if I leave," Clary snapped.

"What are you doing? You don't have to go."

"Suddenly I'm not in the mood to drink champagne and make small talk with billionaires," the girl rolled her eyes and turned away from Jace. She pushed through the people dancing and found her way from the garden back to the house that she had come through from the driveway. She just hoped there was a car that could take her back to the Lightwoods'. As she stepped inside the house, a hand caught hold of her wrist and pulled her through a door into what looked like a guest bedroom off the side of the living room.

Before she could even register what was happening, the door was slammed shut and Jace's lips were on hers.


End file.
